Marketing Credential Elective Presenters

Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA, Principal, Barlow/McCarthy
Kriss Barlow has developed a reputation as a nationally-recognized expert on physician relationship and growth strategies for clients. Increasing referrals. Delivering meaningful, measurable results. Building engagement, recruitment and retention. A sought-after speaker, certified sales instructor and author of four books on physician relationships, Kriss serves on the Board of Directors for SHSMD, the AHA's Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. Kriss was honored to be the recipient of SHSMD’s Award for Individual Professional Excellence in 2015.

Ruth Padilla Portacci, Principal, Healthcare Strategy Partners
Ruth Padilla Portacci, principal of Healthcare Strategy Partners has more than 25 years working with hospitals, health systems and physicians. Prior to starting her own consulting firm in 2013, Ruth was a senior strategist with Community Health Systems, one of the nation’s largest healthcare systems. One of her roles was leading physician practice strategy and marketing for 30 hospitals with more than 400 employed and income guaranteed physicians. Ruth is also experienced in practice acquisition, onboarding efforts and physician practice service/culture development. Ruth has served for six years on the SHSMD Board of Directors and is currently president-elect.

Dan Lavelle, Marketing Manager/CRM Lead, Lehigh Valley Health Network
Dan Lavelle is the lead strategist and forward thinker for demand generation and multi-channel campaign execution at Lehigh Valley Health Network. He is responsible for the rapid adoption of LVHN’s data-driven, digital-first marketing approach as well as the usage and maturity of LVHN’s enterprise CRM/PRM platform. Drawn to health care by a passion for helping others, Dan’s prior marketing experience includes roles with the American Cancer Society and several health-focused not-for-profits. Outside the office, you’ll often find Dan racing his motorcycle or bicycle, or thru-hiking one of our National Parks.

David Marlowe, Principal, Strategic Marketing Concepts
David Marlowe is principal of Strategic Marketing Concepts and is responsible for directing engagements involving the development of strategic marketing plans, market research, marketing function assessments, medical staff marketing, new program development, pricing strategies, and healthcare delivery system marketing issues. Prior to forming Strategic Marketing Concepts, Mr. Marlowe served as vice president, strategic consulting, First Strategic Group (Whittier, CA); vice president, strategic services, Market Strategies, Inc. (Richmond, VA); vice president, planning and marketing, St. Agnes Hospital (Baltimore, MD); and director of marketing, Harbor Health System (Baltimore, MD). Mr. Marlowe has more than 33 years of healthcare marketing and planning experience as a consultant and a provider-based executive. He is a frequent author and lecturer for national and local professional organizations. He has held adjunct faculty positions in marketing and strategic planning at Avila College (Kansas City), the University of Baltimore, Georgetown University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Rebecca Stewart, Director, Hartford HealthCare News Service
Rebecca Stewart is the Director of the Hartford HealthCare News Service. In this role, she oversees the health care system’s media relations strategy, and has helped to bring Hartford Hospital and Hartford HealthCare into the digital era, with a focus on content development and strategy. Rebecca oversees content marketing initiatives and execution, both internal and external, across multiple platforms and formats to drive engagement, patient volume, sales and positive customer/patient experience.

She came to the health field after more than a decade in broadcast and print newsrooms. Rebecca launched a morning show and was the first broadcast reporter in the state to write a weekly column. Rebecca made the jump to health care in 2010—and the health care system’s positive news coverage doubled in just one year. Rebecca earned her master’s degree from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nick Dethlefsen, Video Production, Hartford HealthCare
Nick Dethlefsen has worked in broadcast media for more than 15 years. Starting at a TV news station in southern Illinois as a camera operator and video editor. He was quickly promoted to videographer where he trained with the National Press Photographer's Association. After three years he moved home to the east coast and worked at 'FOX News Channel’ and 'HD News Network' in New York. Nick moved to Connecticut in 2005 and has worked for the CBS affiliate 'WFSB Channel 3' in Hartford and Tribune owned 'Fox 61’, were he earned 4 Associated Press awards for his photography and editing. Then in 2010, won an Emmy Award for a series he shot on the USS Toledo and her crew, a fast-attack submarine built here in CT. In 2012, with Nick as the Director of Photography, 'The Hartford Hospital Fire: Inferno on the 9th Floor', won Best Documentary in the 3rd Annual Tunis Film Festival. Nick has 14 Emmy nominations for his work in his current role with Hartford HealthCare. He operates and maintains the on-site broadcast studio and editing facilities for Hartford HealthCare located in Hartford and Newington, CT.

Kathleen Larey Lewton, MHA, Principal, Lewton, Seekins & Trester
Kathleen Larey Lewton, MHA, Principal, Lewton, Seekins & Trester has spent 40 years in healthcare public relations, at major academic medical centers including Columbia Presbyterian and University Hospitals of Cleveland, and global PR agencies Porter Novelli and Fleishman Hillard. Her firm provides strategic counsel to leading systems and academic medical centers. The author of “Public Relations in Health Care: A Guide for Professionals,” she is past national president of PRSA and speaks on healthcare issues to organizations including The Economic Club of Detroit.  She has a master’s in journalism from Northwestern and an MHA from the University of Minnesota.

Mary Harvard, Associate Vice President, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health)
Mary Havard has served the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) in a number of progressively responsible leadership roles. Serving as Associate Vice President since 2010, she leads internal communication efforts for an employee base of 12,000 spread across a wide geographic area, in addition to brand management, external communication and executive communication activities. Prior to joining UTMB Health, Mary held communication-related positions at a community hospital in Nassau Bay, Texas, the American Veterinary Medical Association in Illinois, and the University of Houston (UH) Alumni Organization. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism with honors from UH.

Kerri Howell, Director of Communications and Media Relations, Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University
Kerri is director of communications and media relations for the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.  Prior, she was director of public relations and marketing for St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, N.Y., where she led development of successful internal communications programs for employees and physicians.She has also worked in corporate public relations for various large companies and nonprofit organizations, including Lockheed Martin Corporation, was a TV news producer,and is an adjunct professor at Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse.

Alexander Moore, Manager of Corporate Marketing and Communications, Brooks Rehabilitation
As the Manager of Corporate Marketing and Communications for Brooks Rehabilitation, Alex has helped apply the company’s values of innovation and compassion towards all strategic marketing and communication efforts.

Since coming to Brooks in 2012, Alex has worked to develop both digital and social media channels by focusing on producing the highest quality content. Before assuming his current position, Alex served as the Administrative Resident for Brooks Rehabilitation. Alex holds a Masters of Health Administration from the University of North Florida where he now serves as an Adjunct Professor of Healthcare Marketing and U.S. Healthcare Systems.

Bethany Maki, Vice President, Digital Strategy, Paradysz+PM Digital
Bethany has worked in nonprofit marketing communications and fundraising for more than 14 years, specializing in voluntary healthcare organizations. Over the years she has served such top brands such as the Alzheimer’s Association, American Diabetes Association, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Children’s Cancer Research Fund, and American Heart Association. As a consultant, Bethany has focused on building nonprofit digital practices within commercial digital agencies, aiming to bridge the gap between online retail consumer and mission-seeking experiences.

Rebecca Higman, Marketing Director, Soyring Consulting
Rebecca is a Soyring consultant with 10 years of experience in marketing and communications strategy, online fundraising, and social media, primarily with voluntary healthcare organizations. She has held positions including Marketing Director, Senior Manager of Digital Strategy, Senior Manager of Product Marketing, and Associate Manager of Online Fundraising and Special Events. Rebecca’s expertise is in healthcare marketing communications, including website strategy, email communications, and materials development for internal and external audiences.

Tony Pearman, CEO, Access
Tony Pearman currently serves as CEO of Access, a Virginia-based advertising/design studio that he co-founded in 1996. Access has been nationally recognized for outstanding design, public relations and advertising across all mediums. Pearman has collected more than 400 awards at the local, regional and national level. The American Advertising Federation (AAF), Healthcare Marketing Report, PRINT and ID magazines, the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, the Telly Awards, CASE, the Public Relations Society of America and the Society for Environmental Graphic Designers have all recognized Pearman’s work.

DeShea Witcher, SEO Specialist, Access
DeShea Witcher, SEO Specialist at Access, will join him in this presentation. Witcher specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) techniques, including PPC campaigns, content marketing, conversion tracking and website optimization. His main priorities are to establish clients’ key performance indicators, validate web traffic and sources, as well as to increase website traffic and create leads.